Crossroad
by Emmeebee
Summary: Tonks' mission was simple: get in, do some reconnaissance, get back out again. But when complications strike, she finds herself at a crossroad. Pre-relationship, four chapters
1. Chapter 1

Tonks stepped out onto the party deck of Avengers Tower, trying not to teeter in the high heels she'd donned for the occasion. She was greeted with a wave of noise, the music from the loudspeakers blending with the chatter of the attendees. Her gaze swept over the room, taking in all the faces and possible escape routes. The war had ended decades ago, but the habit of constant vigilance was one that never completely faded.

It felt weird not to bring a bottle of wine with her, but Stark had insisted that anyone who brought a contribution wouldn't be allowed through the front door. If it were any other day, she might have snuck something in anyway, but it wasn't worth the risk.

As much as the oversight would horrify her mother, being allowed entry was more important than adhering to dinner party norms.

'Maria!' said a redhead — _Natasha Romanoff, _Tonks thought, remembering the file she'd read on the woman; _agent, assassin, lethal_. She was standing by the bar with a man that Tonks recognised as Bruce Banner: _Hulk, scientist, genius_. 'What's your poison tonight?'

Tonks blinked. Was the spy so obvious as to try to kill her in front of everyone? Had they completely misread Maria's status here? But then why was her tone so _friendly_?

The words stirred up a vague memory of her father using the phrase once when she was young to mean "drink of choice".

'Beer,' she said, hoping it was the right answer. 'Any kind.'

Romanoff grabbed a bottle and passed it over to her, unscrewing the lid with an ease that spoke of either a propensity for drinking or a past assignment as a bartender.

'Thanks.' Taking the bottle, Tonks turned to survey the room. 'I suppose I should find Stark.'

Banner gestured to a loose circle of people standing near a line of spotless ceiling-to-floor windows, which captured a brilliant view of the sun setting over the New York skyline. 'He's over there.'

As Tonks walked in the direction Banner had indicated, she slipped the tip of her wand out of the holster she'd sewn into her jacket sleeve and wordlessly changed the beer into water. Everyone had to see her drinking; that way, they might mistake any oddness for tipsiness. But actual inebriation would be a complication she couldn't afford.

It didn't take long to find Stark. The picture of the consummate socialite, he was laughing heartily as he listened to a man whose back faced Tonks. As she drew nearer, however, she noticed a hint of wariness lurking in his eyes.

Out of everyone, his file was the one she'd poured over the longest, and it wasn't just because it was the most detailed. Given his purported ability to break into nigh-impenetrable systems, he was her best source of intel.

After observing the use of magic in the Battle of New York and the inexplicable portals that appeared across the globe a few short months later, the ICW had been concerned about the threat of discovery. MACUSA had infiltrated several Muggle government agencies with the aim of determining what, if anything, was known about them.

The nature of the agencies they were infiltrating meant they were long-term ops, with agents spending years building good reputations and working themselves up the ranks. When the first Auror finally reached a position that was senior enough to be useful, the department had celebrated.

And then S.H.I.E.L.D.'s data leaked. The Auror's information was caught up in the mess, making him a target for Muggles across the globe. The mission a failure, he and all of the other Aurors were pulled out, burrowing deep into the wizarding world to avoid detection.

For a time, they'd been stuck on how to proceed further. Then, the Ministry had proposed a new strategy, offering the use of Tonks' Metamorphmagus skills for the mission. That was the first she'd heard of the ICW's concerns; prior to that, she'd thought the Ministry was turning a blind eye to the threat. Armed with new knowledge about the history of the operation, she'd spent months perfecting Maria Hill's accent, mannerisms, and speech patterns, as well as learning to walk in the death traps she called work shoes.

Even with a Stabilising Charm on her feet, it was an effort to stay upright.

'Agent Hill, only fifteen minutes late this time!' Stark exclaimed, drawing the attention of the others. 'I couldn't believe it when JARVIS said you'd entered the lobby; I was starting to think you were trying to beat my record for being fashionably late.'

'Work kept me,' Tonks said, joining the circle between the man who had been speaking earlier — whom she now recognised as Clint Barton; _archer, agent, spy_ — and Helen Cho: _geneticist, biologist_. 'We can't all set our own timetables.'

His eyes sparked with curiosity, lighting up his face. 'Anything interesting come up?'

That brought Tonks up short. Her file had warned her that Stark was arrogant, nosy, and charming enough to win people over despite his faults, but she hadn't realised how accurate that was.

Barton sighed.

'That's classified, as you already know,' she said, recovering.

'So that's a yes.' Stark grinned. 'You may as well tell me. I'm going to find out sooner or later anyway.'

Tonks raised her eyebrows. Between his cocksure attitude and the implication that he could get anything from anyone, he would have gotten along with Remus and Sirius.

It would have been pure chaos, anarchic but a blast in the best way.

'Then why would I deprive you of the challenge of working it out for yourself?'

He scoffed. 'Oh, trust me, that's not a challenge. It's just a matter of when I get bored enough to invest time into it.'

Shaking her head, Tonks took a swig of "beer" to keep herself from laughing. 'This isn't going to be strong enough.'

'Well, you know where the hard liquor is.'

'Maybe later,' she said with a genuine smile.

-x-

Tonks lay low for the first few hours, biding her time as she learned more about the group's dynamics and how Maria fit into it. Unfortunately, nobody seemed inclined to talk business, which was understandable but inconvenient.

If she was going to discover anything useful, she would have to risk bringing it up herself.

Earlier in the evening, they'd migrated from the bar to a table bordered by four coaches. They had all tried lifting Thor's hammer, which apparently had a spell on it that meant it could only be lifted by those it deemed worthy.

Hermione would have loved the chance to get her hands on it and break down the criteria a person had to meet to pass the worthiness threshold.

After they had all tried and failed to make the cut, they'd settled back into easy conversation. With the exception of Steve Rogers — _super strong, morally upright, apparently unable to get drunk _— everyone but Tonks was tipsy. Her trick of replacing her beer with water had kept her clear-headed, although there were times she hadn't been able to get alone long enough to make the switch.

Still, that left everything right where she wanted it. The alcohol should have loosened the others' tongues by now. She turned to Thor — _Asgardian, likes thunder, the most likely Avenger to believe in magic_.

'So,' she said casually, as if she hadn't rehearsed the words in her head to infuse them with the right amount of lazy interest, 'how's that brother of yours?'

'Dead.' Thor's voice was flat. 'He gave his life to save Jane.'

'Oh.'

Tonks knew grief well. Losing Remus had been devastating, and there had been times when the only thing keeping her going was knowing that Teddy needed her.

Mass murderer or not, Loki was Thor's brother. She could understand his pain.

But what about Maria? Would she apologise for his loss or be grateful that the man who had almost destroyed New York was gone? Would she speak or say nothing?

The others didn't seem to know what to say either. Stark's face was as hard as ice as he stayed uncharacteristically silent, and Barton's knuckles were gripping his beer so tightly they turned white.

Finally, Rogers set a hand on Thor's shoulder.

'I'm sorry you had to go through that,' he said. 'It must be difficult.'

Thor gave him a quick nod, but his reply was unyielding. 'Loki made his choices, good _and_ bad. I just hope he has found some peace.'

Tonks tilted her head. 'What do Asgardians believe happens... "after"?'

'They spend the rest of time another realm. Those who die honourably open their eyes to the grand halls of Valhalla, while those whose deaths were unremarkable awaken in Hel.'

'It's based on how you die rather than how you live?' Barton asked.

'Yes. That is why so many Asgardians are warriors; it is considered the height of bravery to give one's life in battle.' Thor paused, and his eyes grew wistful. 'Our Hel is not a bad place, not like yours, but Valhalla… Valhalla is something else entirely. Its feasts and opulence are the talk of legend.'

Tonks frowned. The idea of there being different realms hadn't come up in her briefing. 'If nobody has ever come back, how do you know for sure?'

'Heimdall sees all.'

Her heart seemed to skip several beats. 'Is there anything he _can't _s— '

'You're telling me,' Barton cut in, his voice low and dangerous, 'that after everything he did, Loki is being rewarded because he did something right in death?'

A dark expression clouded Thor's face. 'Careful. You knew my brother for mere days. Do not speak of things you know so little about.'

'I know you're upset, but you're not the one he forced — '

'You _don't _know — '

'More Asgardian ale?' Rogers asked, standing. 'You said you wanted to see who can hold it better.'

Thor stared at him for a moment, his eyes distant and unseeing, before nodding and rising to his feet. 'I think you'll find that what I said was that I want to see how long it takes for me to drink you under the table.'

They left, leaving awkward silence in their wake.

Tonks' brain was whirring. She regretted the friction her questions had caused, but she was too busy considering the implications of what Thor had said to linger on that.

Who, or what, was Heimdall? Did he know about the wizarding world? Did that mean that Thor did, too — and, by extension, the Avengers? If Thor hadn't told them yet, would the Ministry be able to strike a deal with his people to protect their secret?

How could she get confirmation of that without planting the possibility of magic's existence in their minds?

'I didn't know you were interested in Asgardian mythology,' Stark said, tearing her from her thoughts. He shot her an inquisitive look that lasted a little too long for her liking.

She hesitated. When it came to her cover, she'd thought the biggest threats were Romanoff and Barton since they'd had the longest history with Maria. But perhaps her concern had been misplaced. 'I'm interested in a lot of things.'

'It's weird,' Barton said.

She'd thought her questions were sufficiently innocent... Maybe Maria had expressed disinterest in Asgard in the past?

Leaning forward to set her beer on the table, she hid her right arm under her body, ready to draw her wand if needed.

Barton continued: 'Knowing that things like that exist out there… it messes with your head.'

'You can say that again,' said Rhodes — _military liaison, War Machine, close friend of Tony Stark._

'Do you think there's more than just Asgardians out there?' Tonks asked, seizing her chance.

Barton tapped his fingers against his thigh. 'I don't know. I used to think it was crazy, but now — '

'Now, it doesn't seem as improbable.' Stark shook his head. 'What I saw when I went through that portal…'

Tonks waited for him to continue, but he didn't. His eyes, haunted and unseeing, were fixed on a point off to her right. 'More aliens? Or magic?'

'Magic isn't real,' he replied decisively. 'Thor thinks otherwise, but everything Loki did was just technology that we haven't invented yet. Give me a few weeks alone with any of it, and I can work out what makes it tick.'

Rhodes cleared his throat. 'I don't know, Tony. Most of it, maybe, but some of it… Some of it didn't make sense.'

'And you think the answer is magic?'

'No. I just don't think it _can't _be magic.'

'What Loki did didn't _feel _like technology,' Barton mused.

Silence settled over the others, who seemed to be lost in their thoughts. At first, Tonks let it sit, hoping that someone would jump in and say something useful. But as time wore on, she accepted that it was unlikely.

At least she knew that the Avengers as a whole didn't know about the wizarding world, although she still had her suspicions about Thor.

'Well,' she said, 'whether it's magic or technology, I'm glad it's gone. If I never see anything like that again, it'll be too soon.'

'Hear, hear,' Barton said, raising his bottle towards her.

She went through the motions of clinking her bottle against his and taking a drink, but her mind was racing.

If Stark and Barton didn't know about the wizarding community, then chances were that nobody else did, either. Well, Romanoff might, but she probably wouldn't share it if she did; everything Tonks had read indicated that the woman was a steel trap.

Staying longer was unlikely to uncover anything else, and it would increase the risk of the operation backfiring.

'I should head out,' she said, rising to her feet. 'Fury wants me at work early tomorrow.'

'Why is that again?' Stark asked casually.

Tonks laughed in surprise. No wonder so many women had fallen for his charm. If she weren't here for a mission, she would have gravitated towards him as well. 'Still classified.'

'Still going to find out.'

'Still not going to change anyth—'

A shrill ringing cut her off, and she winced. She glanced around, then her gaze settled on Tony — he was the most likely to know what it was. But he looked just as confused as everyone else.

Low, inhuman groaning filled the room, accompanied by slow, creaking footsteps.

At the entrance stood an abomination of metal, wiring, and light. It looked like the photographs she'd seen of the Iron Man and War Machine suits in action, except it was alive.

Alive, inhuman, and utterly grotesque.


	2. Chapter 2

Staring up at the grotesque creature, Tonks' hand dropped to the angle required to best unsheath her wand, but she caught herself just in time.

Only if she had to. It would be hard to sit this out, but she was in a room with the best fighters the Muggle world had to offer. They could handle this _thing _without her magic.

If she truly had been Maria, they would have had to.

Its voice tinny, it began to ramble about worthiness, dreams, murder, and missions, the Avengers interjecting frequently as they tried to decipher what was going on.

Tonks rose to her feet, still trying to wrap her head around the idea of it — Ultron, Banner had called it — being _alive_. Muscles tense, she scanned the room for exits and hiding places. Since she wasn't going to use magic, she would have to be ready to take cover.

The bar was too far away to be useful. The creature was between Tonks and the doors back into the centre of the tower. And the table and couches could provide some protection, but not much.

Before she could finish taking stock of the area, more _things _burst through the wall, knocking her to the floor. Curling her neck forward, she broke her fall with her forearms, rolling backwards even as her arms stung.

Rolling onto her stomach, she covered her head with an arm and crawled behind the couch. Her fingers fumbled as she drew Maria's gun. Aiming at one of the flying creatures, she pulled the trigger twice.

The bullets ricocheted off the thing, clanking loudly. Elsewhere in the room, glass shattered.

A burst of energy shot straight at her. Eyes widening, she rolled forward. Pain stabbed at her as shards of glass pierced her skin, but she barely noticed it. The bolt crashed into the couch just inches behind her, blasting a hole in the leather and leaving it sizzling.

A shield soared past, crashing into the creature and knocking it to the ground.

Her hands shook, and her heart pounded in her chest. She had never been more aware of how fragile the human body was. Tonks had fought in more battles and skirmishes than she could count, but she had never felt more useless.

Whatever those explosions were, they packed a punch. And her legs, which had seemed fast and strong during Auror training, paled in comparison to the speed of these creatures.

Stripped of the ability to use magic, she was helpless.

Without it, what was she? _Who _was she?

'_Maria!' _Rogers shouted.

Instinctively, she spun around.

A creature was towering over her. As she watched, it flew the last few feet and raised its blasters.

Acting on impulse, she slid her wand out of its holster. '_Stupefy!'_

Red light burst from her wand and shot forward, hitting it squarely in the chest. It convulsed, sizzling and popping as sparks flared from its joints.

The lights flickered off and on, off and on, like a scene from a horror movie. All around her, the creatures convulsed, their joints clunking and scraping against one another. One by one, they began to fall to the ground.

The thuds and grunts of the fight faded, leaving only the sound of heavy breathing, creaking, and hissing.

Ultron dropped to his knees before toppling face-first to the floor. His limbs twitched, clanging against the polished floor. 'No… earthly… bounds…'

Then, he went still.

Everything went dark. A few moments later, there was a whirring noise and the lights came back on again, the nearby fridge beeping in protest.

Tonks' stomach dropped at the carnage surrounding her. What had she done? Had anybody seen her? There was no way they wouldn't have heard her.

She had to get out of there. But how?

Maria wouldn't flee. Maria would be shocked, and she would leave to report to Fury, but it wouldn't be immediate.

Maria would —

All her training had fled her mind. She didn't know what Maria would do. Just that she wouldn't have used magic.

'You did it,' Rhodes said, breathing heavily. 'You stopped them.'

Tonks didn't know who he was talking to until Tony, sounding stunned, replied, 'I didn't. I was still trying to access the control panel. Nothing should have happened yet.'

'Maria?' Barton clambered out from under a nearby table. 'Are you hurt?'

'No.' Her hands shaking, Tonks slid her wand back into its holster. 'I'm fine.'

'What was that?' he asked, helping her to her feet.

The room was a mess. For the most part, it was aesthetic; metallic bodies were strewn across the room, and several of the bottles that had been on the table were in pieces on the floor. But there were charred holes in the floor and furniture that would take longer to fix.

'Maria?'

She turned back to him. 'Your guess is as good as mine. I'm going to have to report this to Fury.'

'No, not Ultron; the weapon you used. I've never seen anything like it.'

'It's new — a prototype.' Thinking quickly, she added, 'It's voice-activated so no one can use it if they disarm me. I'm the guinea pig.'

'What if it's too loud for it to hear you?'

'That's what my gun's for.'

'Can I see it?' Tony asked, weaving through the debris.

'We're not going to talk about the fact that you _created that thing_?' Romanoff asked.

'Not yet, we're not,' Tony said over his shoulder. 'Maria?'

Tonks was growing sick of that name. Every time she heard it, it was like a clock ticking down to disaster. 'It's above your clearance level.'

Mad-Eye would have been horrified if this had happened under his watch. She shouldn't have just planned not to use magic — she should have had a cover story at the ready. Why hadn't she hidden her wand inside something else like Hagrid did with his umbrella?

'You see, it's funny you say that since Fury always comes to me first when he's sourcing new tech, and I haven't heard anything about a voice-activated electromagnetic weapon.'

'He _used _to. You're not in munitions anymore.'

'That doesn't keep him from trying.'

Her heart dropped. That wasn't in any of the briefings! Either it was a secret or the MACUSA agent hadn't had the chance to dig that far before he was compromised.

Schooling her expression, she replied haughtily, 'He doesn't tell you everything. Honestly, this is ridiculous. We should be talking about that monster, and you're more concerned with your ego.'

'Not my ego; my gut. It's my third best asset.'

If she hadn't been the one in his crosshairs, she would have been impressed by his tenacity.

'She has a point,' Thor said. 'Surely, the more pressing issue is the one that attacked us.'

'If we can't trust one of our own — '

Banner cut in. 'We were trying to make an android AI that could help us fight whatever's coming. Ultron wasn't supposed to be viable for a few more weeks; something must have happened to spark his consciousness early.'

'Don't you watch sci-fi?' Barton demanded. 'Even I know robot armies are a recipe for disaster.'

'In life-or-death situations, the line between disaster and survival is thin,' Tony shot back. 'I would take the risk again if it meant having a _chance _of keeping our world safe.'

Romanoff picked up a piece of circuitry and turned it over in her hand. 'That's what S.H.I.E.L.D. was for.'

'Except they didn't do a very good job of stopping the invasion, did they? What was their strategy — watch as the government blew up New York City?'

'They did their job,' she replied. 'They put us together.'

'Stand down.' Rogers stood up from where he'd been crouching beside Ultron and stepped between them. 'Pointing fingers won't help with anything. We need to work out how to deal with this threat.'

'We need to start by getting to the bottom of what Maria is hiding.' Stark returned his attention to her. 'Who gave you that weapon?'

Rogers nodded. 'Maria, please don't take offence, but I'm with Tony on this one. What is it that you're not telling us?'

'I already told you, I don't have authorisation to disclose that to you,' she said. 'I can call Fury and ask, but he won't appreciate the interruption.'

'I'll call,' Barton said, pulling out his phone. 'It's ridiculous, but the sooner we deal with this, the sooner we can focus on Ultron.'

Crap. Tonks hadn't expected them to call her bluff. Putting on a fake smile, she started to walk towards the door. 'I think I drank too much. I assume I'm allowed to use the restroom, or do I need an armed guard?'

All she had to do was get somewhere without surveillance and she would be able to Apparate away. By the time they realised she was missing, she would be back again, a troop of Obliviators by her side. As per protocol for high-stakes missions like this, they were already on standby nearby.

'J.A.R.V.I.S., lock down this floor,' Tony said. 'J.A.R.V.I.S.?'

There was no response.

'Ultron said he killed someone,' Rhodes said, horror on his face. 'You don't think…'

Tony swallowed. 'He was the only other person here.'

'Tony…' Rogers started.

'Not now.' His voice shook. 'I'll come with you.'

Tonks nodded. Whether it was J.A.R.V.I.S. or Tony waiting outside, it wouldn't make much difference to her plan.

She followed him out of the room and down the hallway. He was moving slower than she would have liked, but she took comfort from the knowledge that Barton would have to call his handler before getting transferred through to Fury. 'I'm sorry about J.A.R.V.I.S.. His programming must have been incredible, but he was more than just something you created, wasn't he?'

'He was.' Tony didn't meet her gaze. 'He's been around for a long time.'

'He was your friend.'

'You don't think that's weird? Most people do. Even Pepper took a while to warm up to the idea.'

'No, I don't.' Some witches and wizards were able to have familiars, bonding with one or more of their pets to the point that they could almost communicate with them. It seemed like Tony viewed his AIs the same way. 'He might not have had a body, but he had a personality. It's only natural for you to grow attached to him.'

'If you're trying to distract me so I forget about that weapon of yours, you might as well stop trying now.'

'I'm not,' she said honestly.

'Huh.' Drawing to a stop, he met her eyes for the first time since they'd realised J.A.R.V.I.S.'s fate. 'You know, ever since you got here today, there's been something different about you.'

It was like she'd been doused with cold water, the sense of danger rushing back in. For just an instant, she'd let herself get caught up in the moment. 'It must be the alcohol.'

'Even before that.' He narrowed his eyes. 'If I didn't know you better, I'd say you've been flirting with me.'

Tonks hoped the sudden warmth in her cheeks wasn't showing. 'But you do, so you're going to show me to the restroom and pretend this conversation never happened.'

'It's behind you.'

'Oh.' Turning, she opened the door and stepped from the floorboards onto white-and-grey-flecked tiles. Closing the door behind her, she felt her shoulders relax.

In mere seconds, she would be back at MACUSA, safe among Ministry personnel.

She caught her reflection in the mirror that was hanging nearby and was mortified to realise her cheeks were indeed tinged red. Shaking her head, she pulled out her wand.

Tonks had more than one reason to be eager to put this mission behind her.

Closing her eyes, she visualised her desired destination. The Apparition room they'd set aside for her was empty of furniture and other obstructions, but there was a bold multi-coloured rug on the floor to help her focus. She brought the room into vivid focus in her mind.

'What?' Tony asked from the other side of the door.

'I didn't say anything,' Tonks called back, frowning as tried to focus on the details of the rug again.

She turned on the spot —

The door burst open and something — someone — slammed into her back, tackling her to the ground. She threw out her arms, landing hard on her forearms. Pain shot through them, and her wand fell from her grasp, cluttering to the floor nearby.

'_Ouch!' _She swore loudly.

'Get the weapon,' Tony snapped from behind her, his breath warm against her neck.

Footsteps crossed the floor, and she glanced to her left to see Rogers kneeling down to pick up her wand.

'What are you doing?' she demanded. 'Are you crazy?'

Tony twisted her arms behind her and shifted off her back, leaving only his leg to keep her pinned down. 'Barton spoke to Fury. He knows nothing about any prototypes, and he's very curious about why you're claiming to have one.'

She'd been too slow. A few seconds earlier, and she would have gotten out in time. Why had she talked with Tony on the way over? If she'd stayed silent, would they have arrived sooner?

Now, she was their captive and, worse still, they had her wand. She doubted they would be able to do anything with it; Muggle technology didn't react well to magic. But it wouldn't take long for them to realise that it wasn't their kind of weapon.

And what then?

This was her worst-case scenario.

The Statute of Secrecy had survived for over three hundred years. Tonks had come here to help protect it, but was she going to be the cause of its fall?


	3. Chapter 3

Tonks stared at the abstract painting of a tree that was hanging on the wall opposite her as Tony paced around the room. After subduing her, he and Rogers had taken her to a side room and tied her to a chair, then Rogers had left to report back to the others.

'It's just me and you here,' Tony had said, turning a second chair around in front of her and sitting on it backwards. She'd wondered if he knew how the casual atmosphere he'd been trying to create was belied by the ropes binding her.

In any case, that set-up hadn't lasted long. After what felt like an hour of him asking questions that she steadfastly ignored, he'd left. Barton had replaced him with the warning that Tony was going to investigate her weapon and that she could save them all some trouble by confessing then and there.

His questions had started out subtler and more innocuous, but she had met each one with silence. Information about her childhood memories could be used to build a character profile or find leverage.

His experience as an interrogator was clear, and she wondered why Tony had been the one to talk to her first. Had Barton and Romanoff been conferring with their associates? Or had they thought she'd lower her guard with someone she saw as inexperienced?

There weren't any clocks in her field of vision, and she didn't want to show weakness by asking for the time. Instead, she had taken to counting Barton's questions. Sentences with two questions hidden in one were counted as one and a half to add variety.

Sometime around the two hundredth question, Barton had fallen silent. Leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, he was watching her with the intensity of a hawk waiting for its prey to hop out from underneath a log.

Without the questions to keep her occupied, she'd turned to the painting instead.

With a soft sigh that would have been inaudible had the room not been so quiet, he pushed himself off the wall and stalked towards the chair, settling into it across from her. 'What's it like working with Ultron?'

He had progressed to inflammatory questions in an attempt to provoke her, then.

'Why are you trying to keep us from searching for him?'

Tonks didn't believe for one second that he believed that — or that they were directing all their efforts at her. It was most likely the reason there was only one person with her at any one time.

'Just tell me where you got the weapon, and we can all go home.'

The painting was exquisite. A thin black tree sat in the centre of the foreground, and the background was bursting with bright colours, broken up by pale blue swirls and what looked like a golden sun. It almost made her want to take lessons, but she wouldn't have the patience to sit and paint something. She'd far rather be exploring it firsthand.

Barton huffed.

The door creaked open, and she glanced over to see Tony gesturing for Barton. With one last look at her, the agent joined him just outside the room. They stood in the hallway for a moment, huddled together so close that she couldn't make out anything they said. Then, Tony entered the room, swinging the door shut behind him with his foot.

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw her wand in his hand. 'Sharpshooter said you still haven't said anything, but that's alright. Your weapon's done the talking for you.'

'That's very useful of it,' she said before she could stop herself. Her voice cracked from disuse; she hoped she didn't sound as scared as she felt. 'I can save my voice for when you release me.'

'Where's Maria Hill?'

Tonks raised her eyebrows. 'Is that supposed to be some sort of existential question? I'm right here.'

'I'm going to level with you.' Spinning the chair back around, he sat down and leant forward, his arms on his knees. 'You say this is new tech from Fury, but Fury knows nothing about it, and according to my diagnostics, it's nothing more than wood from an ebony tree.

'You say you're Maria Hill, but your blood work traces back to an Englishwoman who dropped out of first form at eleven, has no record of ever working or owning property, and had a marriage license issued to a man with an equally sparse history when she was twenty-five. And, I might add, who looked nothing like Maria Hill in her old school photos.'

Her injury! The blood would have congealed by now, but there must have been enough smeared on the floor for them to identify her.

'So, Nymphadora Lupin, I'm going to ask you again: Where's Maria Hill?'

'She's safe.' One of the other Aurors had slipped her a Sleeping Draught, and she was now under a healer's observation at their base of operations. 'You'll get her back, unharmed and none the wiser, when I leave and not a moment before.'

She'd hoped that would spur him into action, but he seemed to relax at her words.

'How did you make yourself look like her, Nymphadora? Even J.A.R.V.I.S. couldn't tell the difference.'

'Why are you the one questioning me?' she countered. There were, or had been, two spies in the tower, not to mention a high-ranking member of the military. And that was without calling for backup. Why was a private citizen leading this interrogation?

At this point, the only way this interaction was going to end was with the Obliviators wiping all evidence of her presence here. She might as well find out all she could.

'I can get Romanoff in here instead if you want,' he said lightly, 'but I wouldn't advise it. While I prefer torture by incessant chatter, Romanoff tends to be more…'

'Creative?' Tonks supplied, cutting short what she was sure was supposed to be a dramatic pause.

An indignant expression crossed his face. 'No. Brutal. I'm the creative one.'

'Oh, of course.'

'She's actually impressed you haven't said anything so far. Of course, that means she's even more determined to get you to talk.' Tony frowned. 'Really, I'm doing you a favour by giving you a chance to avoid that.'

'If anything happens to me, you'll never find out where Maria is.' That was a lie; the Ministry would hold the agent for as long as they had to but had no intentions of hurting her. But he didn't have to know that. 'Besides, you didn't answer my question. Why are you the one questioning me?'

'Because I'm curious, and because I know that if I hand you over to Fury, he'll never tell me what his people uncover.'

'You implied earlier that that wouldn't stop you,' she reminded him.

'At the risk of sounding like my CEO, it's the principle of the matter. You got past _my _security system and broke into _my _home. I'm not going to hand-deliver you to them only to go to the bother of hacking their files to get answers.'

'I should suggest you just hand me over, then, because you're not going to get anything out of me.'

'Your marriage wasn't the only interesting thing I dug up,' Tony said amiably, ignoring her comment. 'Tell me about Edward. How's his job going?'

Her stomach dropped, and her whole world narrowed as it swung off-kilter. The decision to register Teddy's birth in the Muggle world had been an easy one. Not only had she wanted him to share her father's legacy, but after the war, giving him the ability to navigate Muggle society had felt prudent.

He'd had to leave Muggle education when he went to Hogwarts, of course, but whenever he was home, he worked at a second-hand bookstore with some of his friends from primary school.

If Tony could hack into government records, he could find a seventeen-year-old boy's work schedule.

'Is that a threat?' she asked coldly.

'I would never hurt a child for his mother's mistakes.' From the conviction ringing in his voice, he meant it. 'But I can't say the same for Fury.'

'Then why do you work for him?'

'I _consult _for them.' His reply was immediate, but then he hesitated.

She had her in. 'And that makes it okay? Isn't that why you stopped weapons manufacturing — because you decided that what people did with your weapons was your concern?'

'What's my alternative? Oh, right; it's the thing that just attacked us.'

Tonks wished she could offer him another option. If the threat was as dire as he said, the whole world was at stake. Wizards and Muggles alike should be fighting to save it.

But the ICW would never suspend the Statute of Secrecy. They wouldn't consider working with Muggles unless worldwide destruction was not only knocking at their door but actively tearing it down.

'You're a creator, aren't you? This trial failed; clean up the mess, then create a new alternative.'

Tony snorted. 'Because solving planetary threats is as straightforward as building a computer program.'

'You're the one who said hacking government organisations is boring,' she reminded him. She'd seen what came of tolerating corruption and shady politics. Finding an alternative wouldn't be as simple as she was making it out to be, but the world would be a better place for it.

'True.' Eyes gleaming, he pulled out his smartphone, and his fingers darted across the screen. 'You know I don't trust you, right?' he asked without looking up.

She wished he could. How many people would die if his team failed to stop the threat? Her magic could help in the upcoming struggle. Wasn't this what she had become an Auror _for_? To protect people?

And if she could work on it with anyone, she would want it to be Tony. His brilliance and charm were magnetic. The planet's best bet for preventing intergalactic threats would always involve him.

But she couldn't say any of that. 'I'm not asking you to.'

No; all she was asking for was the ability to stall him until someone arrived to rescue her and take his memories away.

'But for what it's worth,' she added, 'I don't want Ultron out there any more than you do.'

-x-

It took five hours for Tonks' team to realise something was wrong and infiltrate the building. The first sign was a shimmer in the corner. Then, Tony slumped forward in his chair, unconscious.

From there, everything seemed to happen in a rush, fast but efficient and smooth. With practice-honed skill, the Obliviators orchestrated messages to summon the other party guests back. They made a list of anybody who had been told and then swept through the tower until nobody remembered she had ever even been there.

Not that she saw much of it. Shortly after the Aurors took control of the scene and unbound her, she was taken away to debrief with her supervisor, Gina Johnson. They poured over and dissected everything she'd seen, heard, said and done until it felt like Gina knew more about the evening's events than she did.

'Thank you.' Gina flicked her wand to set her Quick Quotes Quill and parchment to work packing themselves away. 'The information you uncovered will help us greatly.'

Tonks shook her head. 'I messed up. I shouldn't have used magic.'

'According to the Statute, any witch or wizard — even an undercover Auror — may use magic in front of Muggles in self-defence,' Gina said, but Tonks noticed that she didn't deny her statement.

Protecting herself from the suit had been _legal_, but that didn't mean she hadn't made a mistake. If she'd found another way to avoid the blast, she could have left without anyone being any the wiser. Maria Hill would have returned to work the next day with a hangover and vague memories of the party.

'I'll see you back at the office in a week,' Gina said, closing her bag and rising to her feet. Pulling a cheap, gaudy ring from her breast pocket, she set it down on the table between them. 'Here's your Portkey. It will activate with your usual password.'

Tonks stared down at the ring for a moment. Whenever an undercover mission like this ended, the agent was given a week of paid leave to shake the persona they'd assumed and find normalcy again before returning to work.

For the first time, the idea was repugnant.

'Are we going to send someone to help with Ultron?'

'The ICW will be the ones to decide that.'

The rope was gone, but their hands were still tied. Didn't that irk her? Didn't it bother her that they would be twiddling their thumbs while the Muggles fought on the frontline against a common foe?

'Of course.' Tonks reached out to grip the ring. As much as she might wish otherwise, things were as they had to be. 'Hope.'

The Portkey yanked her away, leaving America and its complications behind.


	4. Chapter 4

Soft rock music drifted through the living room as Tonks sat cross-legged on her favourite shaggy yellow rug, flicking through old photo albums. Teddy lay on his stomach beside her, his arm outstretched as he examined the image of a giraffe he was creating on his bicep.

'I couldn't take you anywhere Muggle until you were three,' she said, smiling down at a picture of Teddy at one year old, his nose growing and shrinking rapidly as his skin went from pale to orange to blue.

'Hmm.' He tilted his head. 'Do you think its neck should be longer?'

She glanced over at the giraffe. It looked stumpy. 'Yes.'

Nodding, he focused on the image. It started distorting as his skin responded to his new instructions.

Since she'd returned from her mission, she'd been spending as much time with her son as possible, savouring every second until he had to leave for Hogwarts for the last time.

It was a few weeks after the fateful incident in New York. At first, she'd planned to return to work after her mandatory week off, but when it came to it, she couldn't bring herself to go back. Instead, she'd used some of her accumulated holiday leave to extend it for another fortnight, hoping the extra time would give her more perspective.

Unfortunately, while her break would be over in three more days, her inner turmoil felt nowhere near resolved.

Teddy was spending so much time with his Muggle friends that news of the destruction of Sokovia had reached her in almost real-time. Tonks had contacted Gina immediately to alert her, but her response had been the same as ever.

It wasn't their decision to make. The ICW would act if they thought it was necessary.

Tonks had worked in law enforcement long enough to understand that was how bureaucracy worked, but it didn't make it feel any less wrong.

A hundred and seventy-seven people had died, and the only reason the death count wasn't higher was the quick thinking of the Avengers. One of Teddy's friends, who was studying geoscience at uni, had spent hours detailing how close Ultron had come to committing global genocide.

All human life, wiped out in an instant.

Even extinction-level events weren't enough to make the ICW act.

If Tonks had helped, Ultron might have been defeated sooner. At the very least, she might have been able to save some of those people. By ordering her to stand down, Gina had made her complicit in Sokovia's destruction.

That was the part that was hardest to reconcile herself with.

She wasn't some idealistic seventeen-year-old fresh out of school, convinced that she would get through her career without casualties. Every mission had an element of risk, and any operation could go south faster than a transatlantic Portkey. There were times when she'd had to act even though everything in her was screaming for her to stay home with Teddy, and there were times when she'd had to stay home even though her blood called for her to go.

But something about this was different. She'd known they should act, and she had compromised, choosing her orders over her morals. And when she'd spoken to Gina afterwards, the woman had been entirely unfazed.

'It was a Muggle problem, and it needed a Muggle solution,' she'd said. 'It may not have been an elegant one, but it was their job to deal with it, not ours.'

Tonks had swallowed her reply, and when Gina had asked about her return date, she'd requested the extra time off.

'What are you looking at?' Teddy asked, shuffling over to peer at the photos. 'You haven't turned the page in a while.'

Tonks sighed. 'Sometimes, I wonder what I'm doing at the department.'

Teddy sat up, frowning. 'That last mission really got to you, didn't it? What _happened _out there? And don't tell me it's confidential like last time.'

'It's not _not _confidential,' she said with a slight smile before sobering. 'Do you ever wish you could tell your mates about magic?'

'Every now and then.' From his searching gaze, she could tell he was still trying to find her train of thought. 'I like how _normal _it feels to hang out with them, but I wish I didn't have to keep such a large part of my life hidden.'

Hippogriff screeches filled the room, and Teddy pushed himself up. 'I'll see who it is.'

Tonks looked back down at the album. The next photograph was of Teddy with her mother, walking hand-in-hand down a path. Autumn leaves dotted the grass on either side, and they were snug in coats and brightly coloured scarves. As she watched, Teddy pointed up at something just out of view and her mum lifted him up to see it.

Life had been simpler then. Harder, yes, because Remus' death had been so fresh, but also smaller and more focused. Back then, there had been no doubt in her mind that she was doing the right thing.

'How do you know my mum?' Teddy's voice asked as footsteps padded down the hallway.

'Would you believe me if I said I don't know?'

Humour tinged the words, but that wasn't what made Tonks freeze. It was the voice — familiar, American, and utterly out of place here.

Slowly, she raised her eyes. Tony Stark was standing beside her son in the doorway. His eyes were shadowed as if he hadn't been sleeping, but his gaze darted around the room, alert and observing.

She shut the album, grateful more than ever that the first floor of the terrace house was Muggle-friendly. Setting it aside, she rose to her feet, making an effort not to fidget. 'Tony Stark, what an honour to meet you.'

'Hmm.' His razor focus settled on her. 'Bold colour choice. I like it.'

Tonks instinctively raised a hand to touch the end of her hair.

Fortunately, she hadn't done anything outlandish that morning, opting for her natural appearance except for the bright purple ombré she'd added to her tips. She wouldn't look that different from the photos Tony had found of her as a child — not that he should be able to remember them.

'What are you doing here? How do you even know who I am?' She kept her voice excited, trying to sound like a fan who was stunned their favourite celebrity had noticed them.

'This is a conversation best had in private,' he said, glancing at Teddy meaningfully. 'Can your mum and I have some time alone?'

Teddy glanced at Tonks, who nodded. In case this went poorly and she had to call for backup, she wanted Teddy to be as far from the scene as possible. 'Why don't you visit Victoire? I'm sure she misses you.'

'If you're sure,' he said uncertainly, but he gave her a quick hug and left.

'Good kid.'

'I think so.' Tonks crossed her arms. 'Are you going to answer my question?'

'My tower has more security cameras than a high-security prison, and yes, I know that isn't the most flattering comparison. J.A.R.V.I.S.'s death means if I want to go through anything, I have to do it manually… but it's still accessible.'

Tonks let out a slow breath. She didn't have the energy, or the inclination, to play this game of conversational chess any longer. 'You saw what happened.'

Tony nodded. 'There were a few things about that night that weren't adding up. I don't like it when equations don't work.'

'And now?'

'Now, the working-out is murkier than ever.' He met her gaze squarely. 'Just so you know, if I don't contact my friend within a few hours, he's going to release the video to the world. So don't try to wipe my memory again — however it is your friends did that.'

He might not know everything, but he knew enough. 'What do you want from this?'

'Answers, mostly. From there, we'll see.'

It would break the most important, most fundamental, law her people had. Every rung of their society was structured around the principle of keeping their existence secret. Their government, their schooling, their residences, their law enforcement… It underlay everything they did.

But it was a law she didn't agree with anymore. While there had been a time when it was in their people's best interests to secret themselves away, that time had been and gone, leaving nothing but smoke behind. People were still claiming there was a fire, but they were looking in the wrong place.

The Muggles were no longer their enemy; the aliens were. By upholding the Statute centuries too late, they were fighting the people who should be their allies and leaving their flank open to the real threat.

'I'll make you a deal,' Tonks said. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. 'I will answer what I can, and I will help you prepare for the upcoming fight. But everything you learn, directly or indirectly, has to remain between you and me.'

He held out his hand. 'I can do that.'

'Are you sure? Not even your team can know. You can't go on live television and broadcast it to the world.'

'Iron Man was a special case. If I weren't capable of keeping my mouth shut about industry secrets, Stark Industries wouldn't be such a powerhouse.'

That was a valid argument. Still, she hesitated. 'Why didn't you turn me over to Fury?'

'Since I can't remember that night, I don't know for sure,' he said immediately, lowering his hand, 'but knowing me, I would have been too intrigued. If you were really Maria Hill, I would have let them deal with it internally and then hacked into their system to find my answers. But even when I first watched the recording, something about you was niggling at me.'

'What was it?' Tonks asked. Where had she gone wrong? Had it been her accent? Her speech patterns? Her words themselves?

Tony stared at her for a long moment before sighing. 'This is a test, isn't it? If I pass, you'll talk to me, and if I don't…'

'If you tell the truth, you won't fail.'

She was more interested in making sure this was a two-way partnership than anything else. If he lied, or if he said something that implied this was all a manipulation tactic, she wasn't sure there would be a way forward.

'I don't like feeling like I'm being tested,' he said. 'I'm the scientist, not the lab rat… But fine. There was a spark. It wasn't enough to make me suspicious, but it was enough to make me _notice_. When strange things then started happening…'

'You were already looking.'

'That, and I'm good at seeing things others don't.'

Sometimes, all it took was a feeling. 'Then hopefully, we'll be able to find a way to handle this threat.'

This time, Tonks was the one who raised her hand first.

His handshake was firm and warm.

'Everyone calls me Tonks — or Dora.' She moved towards the kitchen. 'Would you like some tea? This is going to take a while.'

-x-

"A while" turned out to be an understatement.

It had taken over an hour to convince Tony that magic was real. Ultimately, she'd had to demonstrate several spells, giving him the chance to test each one for tricks or sleights of hand, before he accepted what she was saying.

Even after that, Tonks hadn't taken into account how many questions a genius like Tony would have. She'd ordered lunch from a fish and chips shop around the corner, and by the time she got back from picking it up, he'd had a new barrage of questions for her.

By the time she'd answered everything she could — within reason; there were some things she refused to divulge — it was well into the afternoon.

'This could revolutionise everything, in the lab _and _the field,' he said, his eyes bright with the thrill of a new idea. 'Even with the constraint of keeping magic secret, the things we could change…'

Theoretically, the possibilities were limitless. But in reality, there was a snag that she doubted he was taking into account.

'Technology doesn't react well around magic,' she reminded him. 'It's why the suits and lights shorted out after I tried to stun Ultron. They're fundamentally incompatible.'

'They are _now_. Inventions don't work until they do; puzzles can't be worked out until they are. Given enough time and thought — '

'People have tried before.'

'_I _haven't.'

No, he hadn't. And wasn't that why she had found it so difficult to leave the tower in the first place? He had the ability to achieve things others never even dared to dream about.

'That's true,' she said, starting to smile. 'Besides, I suppose the people who _are _trying would be coming at it from a magical angle. They wouldn't have specialist knowledge of how technology works or what it is that their magic is shorting out.'

Tony nodded and pulled out his phone. As he fiddled with it, he said, 'It's going to be hard to observe how technology reacts to magic when anything we might use to analyse the technology will react as well. We're going to have to do a lot of smaller experiments with subcomponents. The tower won't work, but I'm sending the order for one of the London warehouses to be emptied. We can bring things in one at a time and try them.'

'I'll track down some books on the nature of magic as a starting point.'

'It'll take time — even after we isolate the cause of the reaction, we'll still have to make new prototypes for everything. But from there, we can make my suits virtually indestructible. It won't matter if they still need pilots when the threat arrives; the people wearing them will be as protected as scientifically _and _magically feasible.'

'While you focus on the prototypes, I'll draft a list of modifications we can make,' Tonks said. Invisibility had come up earlier when he was asking about the wizarding world, but there was also weightlessness, imperviousness to the elements, portability…

If she could contact Luna Lovegood without alerting anyone, the spellcrafter might even be able to alter the Muggle-Repelling Charm to repel anyone whose essence hadn't been pre-approved.

'Then that's our first step. The next step is to get you out into the field without any of your people recognising you as one of theirs. Do you need to be holding your wand to cast a spell, or does any bodily contact suffice?'

'Some witches and wizards can cast magic wandlessly, so in theory, it should be possible. But even with practice, I'm not sure whether I would have the same strength or range.'

'And you said you can cast spells silently.'

'Yes. It's one of the things we were assessed on in basic training.' In the heat of the moment, Aurors often defaulted to saying incantations aloud, both out of habit and to put more strength into the spell. But they were expected to be adept at wordless casting.

'If I make a suit of armour with a decoy blaster, you could hide your wand inside it so anything you cast looks like it's coming from the blaster,' he said, eyes alight with almost childlike excitement. 'If you want a more natural look, we could hide it in a jacket… Now that word has gotten out about the twins from Sokovia, nobody will doubt us if we say you came about your powers the same way.'

His enthusiasm was infectious. A broad smile spread across Tonks' face. They could do this. 'If you can create a fake identity for me, I change my appearance whenever we're in the field to make sure no one recognises me. My people will realise I'm a witch, but if we make them think _I _don't realise it, they may decide it's safer to leave me be.'

Quitting her job without attracting unwanted attention might be difficult, but if there was enough of a gap between her leaving and this mysterious persona appearing, the Aurors shouldn't connect the two.

She would have to go back to work for a while first, though. Otherwise, it would be easy for them to link her departure to the Avengers and follow it to its natural conclusion.

And she would have to leave England so the Ministry couldn't track her comings and goings. Perhaps she could move to somewhere in Asia, at least at first, and then move on from there after some time had passed.

And she would have to tell Teddy the truth. But he was used to keeping information about whether she was at home or on a mission secret; they could work something out.

'We can do this,' Tony said. 'We can make this work.'

They were standing on a precipice, staring over the edge of a vast canyon as they prepared to leap. But instead of fear, all Tonks felt was anticipation. There was a chance they'd fall, but it was much more likely that they were going to soar.

'Not "can",' she said. '_Will_.'


End file.
